"Comrade Captain! I just saw our orders from Moscow; it is a great honor to be one of the units to fire the first shots in our quest to rid Europe of the capitalist pig dogs!"

"Yes Comrade XO, I am quite aware of our orders. Are you also overjoyed to be one of the first to die for the Motherland in this adventure?"

"I am always ready to die defending the Motherland, Captain. But surely we can be victorious in our mission?"

"Of course we can, but to do so we will have to bring our Dear Smyshlenny to close range to the enemy formation to guarantee success against the NATO anti-missile defenses and thus we will probably be destroyed. You see Comrade XO, "Tattletale" duty during peace time is a great mission. We get tail NATO formations and show the flag on how powerful our Fleet is. But during wartime, the Tattletale will always be destroyed to accomplish his mission."

"XO! Set course 235. Head right into the middle of the NATO formation." The Guardian: Apr 16, 1991 As part of opening shots in the Soviet invasion of Western Europe, NATO Naval Command announced today several encounters with Soviet vessels at sea when hostilities commenced. The first encounter was in the North Sea with the StaNavForLant force patrolling the area.

The Soviet DDG Smyshlenny entered within a few nautical miles of the NATO formation. An eye witness onboard the HMS Ariadne said "At first I thought the Soviet ship had exploded as piles of smoke came shooting out of it. Then I realized they had fired pretty much every weapon they had in all directions. It was like the 'Death Blossom' from that movie 'The Last Star Fighter'".

Reports said that the Smyshlenny fired its Styx SSM missiles at 2 of the NATO frigates and their supply ship. Several torpedoes were also fired at all of the NATO ships except the Ariadne which seemed to be just beyond torpedo range. The Netherlands frigate Van Kinsgergen (Kortenaer class) and supply ship Poolster (Zuiderkruis class) were both sunk and the U.S. frigate Copeland (O.H. Perry class) was severely damaged. The Soviet vessel was sunk by several Harpoon missiles and cannon fire from the NATO vessels. But considering the Soviets were willing to sacrifice a ship in the opening volleys of the war, what can be expected from them in the coming days?